NASCAR, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Blackboard Among Winners of Gold Stevie Awards; New Product and Tech-related Winners to Be Announced at Second Event in San Francisco on September 17

NEW YORK, NY, June 19, 2012 – Shining a spotlight on the best and brightest executives, organizations and employees in America, The 10^th Annual American Business Awards^SM announced Stevie® Award Winners last night at the first of two gala award ceremonies taking place this year.

For the first time, The American Business Awards are being presented at two awards ceremonies.  The first ceremony took place in New York City last night and honored winners in categories such as customer service, human resources, corporate communications, live events, publications, and selected categories for company/organization, management and marketing.  Winners in all new product and technology-related categories will be announced at a new event in San Francisco on Monday, September 17. 

The American Business Awards honors an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, corporate communicators, support staff and customer service teams.

With more than 500 executives in attendance, last night’s awards banquet took place at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, and the emcee for the evening was Fox Business Network anchor Cheryl Casone. Also for the first time at the ABAs, Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Previously, only overall category winners received Gold Stevie Awards.

Notable Gold Stevie Award Winners announced last night include:

­   Best Association Event or Meeting: NASCAR

­   Best New Company of the Year: Corkcicle

­   Communications or PR Campaign of the Year – Low Budget: Verizon Wireless

­   Company of the Year - Automotive: Ford Motor Company

­   Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year: Pioneer Financial Services

­   Customer Service Team of the Year: Stamps.com

­   Executive of the Year – Hospitality & Leisure: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., Co-CEOs Steve Ells and Montgomery Moran

­   Fastest Growing Company of the Year: Dealer.com

­   Maverick of the Year: Peter Aquino, President and CEO of PTGi

­   Online Marketing Campaign of the Year: InterContinental Hotels Group

­   Support Team of the Year: Blackboard Incorporated

 MWW Group won four Gold Stevie Awards, more than any other organization last night, followed closely by Crispin Porter + Bogusky & Digitas, with three.  Winners of two Gold Stevie Awards are Achievers, BevMo!, Ford Motor Company, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, LifeLock, Makovsky + Company, MediaCom, National Association of Realtors, North American Power, Northwestern Mutual, Nutricap Labs, Overstock.com, Quality Systems, Inc., Resonate Pictures, Slack and Company, Staff Management, SynCardia Systems, Inc.,  Vertical Response, and Vivint.

More than 3,000 entries were submitted to The 2012 American Business Awards and more than 270 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners. 

For a complete list of The 2012 American Business Awards honorees announced last night visit:  www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Every new product or service nominated in The 2012 American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products.  Voting will open to the general public in July, and the winners will be honored at The American Business Awards ceremony in San Francisco on September 17.

The presentation was broadcast live by the Business TalkRadio Network (http://www.businesstalkradio.net), and the recording will be available online in the coming weeks.

About the Stevie® Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com, and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Sponsors and partners of The 2012 American Business Awards include American Support, Business TalkRadio Network, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, iolo technologies, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, Primus Telecommunications Group, SoftPro, and VerticalResponse.

 

The first of two awards banquets for The 10th Annual American Business Awards will take place on Monday evening, June 18 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.  Tickets are still on sale.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.'s top business awards program.

The June 18 banquet will announce the winners of Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Awards in the categories for PR & Corporate Communications, Live Events, Publications & Annual Reports, Video, Customer Service, HR, Support, and selected categories for Company/Organization, Management and Marketing.

The second banquet will take place on September 17 in San Francisco, where the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie winners in the new product and tech-related categories will be announced.

Here is the list of organizations that have confirmed their attendance for the June 18 banquet (confirmed as of June 14).

Are you planning to join them?

AAC Enterprises Inc New Orleans LA
ABS Associates Inc. Schaumburg IL
Access Receivables Baltimore MD
Achievers San Francisco CA
Acorda Therapeutics Inc. Hawthorne NY
AECOM Technology Corporation New York NY
Affinnova Inc. Waltham MA
Agility Recovery Charlotte NC
Ainsworth Pet Nutrition Meadville PA
Altria Richmond VA
American Bar Association Chicago IL
Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG) Chicago IL
Aprimo Indianapolis IN
Arkadium New York NY
A-T Solutions Inc. Vienna VA
Atlantic Shores Retirement Community Virginia Beach VA
AXA Equitable New York NY
Axis Teknologies Sandy Springs GA
Bacardi Limited Miami FL
BCI Acrylic Bath Systems/Bath Planet Palatine IL
BDS Marketing Inc. Irvine CA
Best Doctors Inc. Boston MA
Big Ass Fan Company Lexington KY
Bill.com San Francisco CA
Blackboard Incorporated Washington DC
Blue Trumpet Group Alameda CA
BMO Capital Markets New York NY
Boyd Gaming Las Vegas NV
Bronto Software Durham NC
Cabell Huntington Hospital Huntington WV
CALIBRE Alexandria VA
Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group Charlotte NC
Clinical Research Advantage Tempe AZ
Coloredge New York * Los Angeles
Columbia Management Boston MA
Corkcicle Orlando FL
Cross Country Home Services Inc. Sunrise FL
CSA Travel Protection San Diego CA
Datapipe Jersey City NJ
Delta Air Lines Inc. Atlanta GA
DHL Express Tempe AZ
DHL Global Forwarding Miami FL
Direct Edge Jersey City NJ
Direct Energy Pittsburgh PA
Donlen Northbrook IL
DRC Reston VA
Eastman Chemical Kingsport TN
eCornell Ithaca NY
e-Cycle LLC Hilliard OH
Electric Insurance Company Beverly MA
EMKAY Inc. Itasca IL
Empire Today Northlake IL
Enterprise Fleet Management St. Louis MO
Facebook Palo Alto CA
Fazoli's Italian Restaurants Lexington KY
First Niagara Bank Buffalo NY
Fitness Consulting Group Elizabethtown KY
Fitness Revolution Elizabethtown KY
Fox Business Network New York NY
GPS Capital Markets Salt Lake City UT
Grand Canyon University Phoenix AZ
Hamilton Sundstrand Windsor Locks CT
Huge Brooklyn NY
IDEXX Laboratories Westbrook ME
IDG Connect Framingham MA
IgnitionOne New York NY
Information Builders New York NY
ING DIRECT Investing Seattle WA
Integrate Scottsdale AZ
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Atlanta GA
International Financial Data Services (Canada) Toronto
iolo technologies Los Angeles CA
Isagenix International LLC. Chandler AZ
IZEA Orlando FL
John Hancock Boston MA
Junction Networks New York NY
K'NEX Hatfield PA
Legacy Washington DC
Leverage a Lawyer LLC Albuquerque, NM
LifeLock Tempe AZ
Lisa Tener Saunderstown RI
M & E Painting Loveland CO
Macy's Cincinnati OH
Makovsky + Company New York NY
Marvell Santa Clara CA
MediaCom New York NY
Medtech Atlanta GA
MELA Sciences Inc. Irvington NY
Mendoza Media LLC Montclair NJ
MSLGROUP Chicago IL
NASCAR New York NY
National Association of Realtors Chicago IL
National Merchants Association Burbank CA
NetCom Learning New York NY
Network9 New York NY
NetWorth Services Inc Phoenix AZ
NIIT Technologies Inc Atlanta GA
Nongshim America Rancho Cuamonga CA
North American Power South Norwalk CT
Northwestern Mutual Milwaukee WI
Nutricap Labs Farmingdale NY
OgilvyEntertainment New York NY
Outsell LLC Minneapolis MN
Overstock.com Salt Lake City UT
Overture Networks Morrisville NC
PAREXEL International Waltham MA
PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants The Woodlands TX
PGi Atlanta GA
PHH Corporation Sparks MD
Philadelphia Insurance Companies Bala Cynwyd PA
Pioneer Financial Services Kansas City MO
PM Digital New York NY
PrimeRevenue Inc. Atlanta GA
Productivity Associates Inc. San Diego CA
Psion Mississauga ON Canada
Qualcomm Enterprise Services San Diego CA
Quality Systems Inc. Irvine CA
RateSpecial Interactive Pasadena CA
ReachLocal Woodland Hills CA
Resonate Pictures Lawrence Kansas
Responsys San Bruno CA
RiseSmart Inc. San Jose CA
Root Sylvania OH
Ruder Finn New York NY
Safelite AutoGlass Columbus OH
SCRA Charleston SC
SecureAuth Corporation
Shear Enterprises LLC St. Petersburg FL
Shred-it International Inc. Toronto Canada
SoftPro Raleigh NC
Squarespace New York NY
Staff Management Chicago IL
Stream Energy Dallas TX
Sun Life Financial Wellesley Hills MA
Sundance Vacations Wilkes Barre PA
SynCardia Systems Inc. Tucson AZ
Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Inc
The Visionary Group Los Angeles CA
thebigword New York City NY
Time Warner Cable New York NY
Tristate Financial Inc. Wilkes-Barre PA
UBM Studios Chicago IL
United Water Harrington Park NJ
US Airways Phoenix AZ
USANA Health Sciences Salt Lake City UT
VerticalResponse San Francisco CA
Virtusa Corporation Westborough MA
Visionista Falls Church VA
Vivint Provo UT
WellPoint Foundation Indianapolis IN
Wells Fargo Bank Los Angeles CA
Williams Lea Americas New York NY
Wowwe The Woodlands TX
Xcelus LLC Provo UT
YellowHammer Media LLC New York NY
Zing USA Inc. Venice CA

The final entry deadline for The 10th Annual American Business Awards^SMis April 25, and while the competition is on track to attract a record number of entries, several categories and a people’s choice competition present special opportunities for aspiring Stevie® Award winners.

Widely recognized as the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., The American Business Awards honor organizations and individuals in a wide variety of categories, from management awards and public relations awards to technology awards, human resources awards, new product awards, and more.

“Historically, 20% of the ABA's categories receive 80% of the entries and this year is no different,” said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards, organizer of the ABAs.  “Certain categories are extremely popular and have stiff competition, but there are others with fewer entries that we encourage potential entrants to look at.”

Gallagher recommends that organizations consider entering the following categories:

• New Product Awards: there are 46 new product awards categories in this year's ABAs
• Marketing Awards: there are more than 40 categories for marketing campaigns of every type. 
• Web Site Awards: there are also more than 40 categories for online media
• App Awards: there are 18 new categories to recognize smartphone and tablet apps of all kinds
• PR Awards: there are 13 categories for all types of communications campaigns

This year’s ABAs will bring the fourth edition of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, in which the general public will vote for their favorite new products of the year in a variety of categories.  Gallagher recommends that organizations nominate their new products and services in the ABAs, because they’ll have the opportunity to win two awards: a Stevie Award in the peer-reviewed categories, and a people’s choice award in the publicly voted competition.

The entry kit for The 2012 American Business Awards is available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.  The 2012 awards will honor achievements since January 1, 2011.   The final entry deadline is April 27, 2011.  Final results will be announced at ceremonies in New York on June 18 and in San Francisco on September 17/

More than 200 professionals nationwide will participate in the peer-review judging process this year.

Last year’s winners of Stevie Awards in the ABAS included  American Express OPEN,  Blackboard, EmpowHER Media, ESPN, Hewlett-Packard, Kwittken & Company, Millennial Media,  Overstock.com, Red Frog Events, and Tesla Motors, among others. 

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about The Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com, and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. 

All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – may submit nominations to The International Business Awards.  The early-bird entry deadline, offering discounted entry fees, is 11 April.  The final entry deadline is 16 May.  Late entries will be accepted through 27 June, and results will be announced in late July.  Entry details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba. 

New in 2012, Stevie Awards will be conferred at three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  Previously, only overall category winners have received Gold Stevie Awards. The Stevie Award trophy, made by the company that makes the Oscar and other major international awards, is one of the world’s most coveted prizes. Stevie Award winners will be selected by an international judging panel of more than 200 executives.

The International Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace.  Categories include:

For a full list of categories visit the IBA web site.

The 2012 International Business Awards will include the Second Annual People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Companies, in which the general public worldwide will vote for their favorite companies. Each company honored with a Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie Award in The International Business Awards’ company of the year categories will automatically be included in people’s choice voting.  Voting will open in late July and winners will be announced at the Seoul, South Korea awards ceremony on 15 October.

2012 Stevie Award winners will be celebrated at the 9^th annual awards banquet on Monday, 15 October at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea.

The 8th Annual International Business Awards were presented in October 2011 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.  Honorees included American Express, Bombardier, Inc., Etisalat, Everything Everywhere, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Siemens AG, TATA Motors, Tesco Poland, Toyota Motor Corporation, Turk Telekom, and Unilever N.V., among others.  2011 results are summarized at http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/iba/awards/408_2219_21081.cfm.  

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards. 

Boeing, FedEx, Groupon, OnStar and Twitter Are Among Gold Stevie Winners

LAS VEGAS, NV – February 28, 2012 – Winners in the Sixth Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are vital to business success, were unveiled last night at a gala ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is the world’s leading sales awards, customer service awards, and contact center awards program.  For the first time, Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  Previously, only overall category winners have received Gold Stevie Awards.

Zions First National Bank won three Gold Stevie Awards, more than any other organization in the competition. Winners of two Gold Stevie Awards are Avaya, Cloud9 Analytics, Direct Alliance, ING Direct USA, iolo Technologies, and PetRays Veterinary Telemedicine Consultants. Other notable gold winners included Boeing Commercial Airplanes, FedEx, Groupon, OnStar, Twitter, UPS, and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution. 

Winners of the most Stevie Awards in all levels included John Hancock Signature Services with 14, DeVry University with 11, and Marriott Vacation Club International and Coloredge Los Angeles * New York with 10 each. A complete list of all honorees by category is available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales. 

Winners in the third annual People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service, as determined by more than 250,000 public votes, were also awarded at the event to organizations including Apple Inc./Apple Stores, Amazon.com, eCornell, Finding Freedom Team, InterContinental Hotels Group, Photodex, SquareTrade, Rosetta Stone, India’s TATA Motors Ltd., and Vodafone Turkey.

The presentations were broadcast live by the Business TalkRadio Network (http://www.businesstalkradio.net), and the recording will be available online in the coming weeks.

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business award shows including the prestigious International Business Awards.   More than 350 professionals from around the world attended the event. 

More than 1,000 entries from organizations worldwide were submitted to this year’s competition, an increase of almost 30% over 2011. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 93 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 27 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 38 categories for sales professionals, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers. 

More than 100 members of seven specialized judging committees determined Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, January 30 - February 10, 2012. 

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Sponsors and supporters of the 6^th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, Coloredge Los Angeles * New York, Competence Call Center, SDL and ValueSelling Associates.

We're expecting a record attendance - a sellout of 360 - for the 6th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service on Monday, February 27 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.   These are the world's top sales awards, contact center awards, and customer service awards.

This will be the historic first-ever ceremony at which Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be announced.  We've introduced Silver and Bronze Stevies this year as part of our celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Stevie Awards movement.  Henceforth all honorees in Stevie Awards programs will be Gold, Silver or Bronze Stevie winners.

So who's coming to Las Vegas next week?  Here's the list of organizations that will be represented at the gala, as of this morning:

ABF Freight System, Inc., Fort Smith, AR
Achievers  San Francisco  CA          
Aditya Birla Minacs  Moncton  New Brunswick Canada   
Agility Recovery  Charlotte  NC            
Air National Guard Recruiting and Retention  Arlington  Virginia               
American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company, West Des Moines, Iowa
American Support, Chapel Hill NC
APAC Customer Services  Bannockburn  IL            
Archipelago Learning  Dallas  TX             
Arizona Public Service (APS)  Phoenix AZ            
Avaya, Basking Ridge, NJ                
CenturyLink   Monroe  LA                   
Bluegreen Corporation, Boca Raton, Fl                 
Bombardier Aerospace  Toronto  ON  Canada         
Borro  London  United Kingdom             
Brooks Group  Greensboro NC             
Bulldog Solutions, Austin, TX
CenterBeam  Inc.  Sunnyvale  CA               
CHEP USA  Orlando  FL                
Coloredge New York • Los Angeles  New York  NY        
Comcast Cable   Philadelphia PA                  
Constant Contact, Waltham, MA                  
Con-way Freight  Ann Arbor  MI  
Datapipe, Jersey City, NJ              
DeVry University  Downers Grove  IL             
DHL Express  Tempe  AZ               
DHL Global Forwarding  Columbia  SC            
DiCentral  Houston TX  
Dubai First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates            
eCornell, Ithaca, NY                    
Enterasys  Andover  MA                 
Enterprise Fleet Management  St. Louis  MO       
Envision   Seattle WA                   
Everything Everywhere  Hatfield  Hertfordshire United Kingdom 
Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America   Cleveland  OH   
FedEx, Memphis, TN / Nuance Communications        
Force 3  Inc.  Crofton  MD                   
GES- Global Experience Specialists, Las Vegas, NV    
GoDaddy.com  Scottsdale  AZ    
Groupon, Chicago, IL              
Heartland Payment Systems  Princeton  NJ  
HomeAway, Austin, TX             
IDentity Theft | 911  Scottsdale AZ                
IHG  Salt Lake City  UT                        
Imparta Ltd  London  England                       
inContact  Salt Lake City  UT                       
ING Direct USA  Wilmington DE                     
International Checkout Inc.  Van Nuys  CA             
iolo technologies  Los Angeles  CA            
ISOdx Solutions, LLC, Columbus, OH            
iSpeak  Inc.  Round Rock  TX              
John Hancock  Boston MA               
kCura, Chicago, IL                  
Language Services Associates, Horsham, PA           
L-com Inc., North Andover, MA               
LifeLock, Tempe, AZ                    
Macy's  Inc.   Cincinnati  OH                
MaintenanceNet  Carlsbad  CA                 
MarketBridge  Bethesda MD                    
Marriott Intl  Inc.  Bethesda  MD                    
Marriott Vacation Club International  Orlando  FL       
Marsh U.S. Consumer  Urbandale IA               
MBX Systems  Wauconda IL                  
Merchant e-Solutions  Redwood City  CA                 
Merchant Warehouse  Boston  MA                
Métier  Ltd.  Santa Rosa  CA                
Nationwide Bank  Columbus  Ohio                
Nationwide Financial  Columbus  OH                
NEW Customer Service Companies, Sterling, VA       
New York Community Bancorp, Inc.   Cleveland OH       
nFocus Solutions, Phoenix, AZ               
NYCM Insurance, Edmeston, NY              
Office Depot  Boca Raton  FL                
OnStar  Detroit  MI                 
OppenheimerFunds Inc.  Englewood  CO             
PacketVideo, San Diego, CA                     
PaySimple  Denver  CO               
Photodex  Austin  TX                
Prescription Solutions by Optum Rx  Costa Mesa CA   
ProShares & ProFunds  Bethesda MD
PSAV Presentation Services, Long Beach, CA           
QBE FIRST  Atlanta GA               
Rackspace Hosting  San Antonio TX             
Reputation.com  San Francisco  CA               
Rosetta Stone  Arlington  VA               
Salt Lake County Government  Salt Lake City  UT       
Schedulicity  Bozeman  MT                   
SDL  Superior CO                 
SecurityMetrics  Orem  UT    
Siemens Enterprise Communications  Munich Germany               
Smith & Nephew Biologics Division, Durham, NC   
SquareTrade Inc, San Francisco, CA      
SurePayroll,  Glenview, IL                
The Knowland Group  Lewes  DE                   
Tracker Corp  San Francisco  CA               
TRX  Inc.  Atlanta  GA                 
Turkiye Ekonomi Bankasi  Istanbul Turkey          
UPC Austria, Vienna, Austria                       
UPS Social Media Customer Service Team  Salt Lake City  UT      
USHEALTH Advisors, L.L.C.   Grapevine TX            
Valerus,  Houston, TX                    
ValueSelling Associates, Rancho Santa Fe, CA          
VerticalResponse  San Francisco CA               
Vestmark  Wakefield  MA                  
Visualize,  Birmingham, MI                    
VIZIO  Inc.  Irvine  CA                
Vodafone Turkey  Istanbul Turkey                    
Volkswagen  Herndon VA                 
Wheels, Inc.,  Des Plaines, IL              
Zions First National Bank  Salt Lake City UT               
ZocDoc  New York  NY           

Finalists in the 6th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced today.    

Organizations as diverse as E*Trade, Dubai Bank, Japan’s Lifenet Insurance Company, and ZocDoc are among those recognized in the customer service awards, call center awards, and sales awards categories.  Organizations with Finalists in multiple categories include DeVry University, the UK’s Everything Everywhere, GoDaddy.com, Nationwide Bank, PetRays, Rosetta Stone, UPC Austria, and Vodafone Turkey, among others. For a full list of Finalists, visit www.stevieawards.com/sales. 

Stevie Award winners will be announced during a gala banquet on Monday, February 27 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Tickets are now on sale.  The awards are presented by the Stevie® Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards. The Stevies are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards.

For the first time, Stevie Awards will be conferred in three levels of distinction: gold, silver and bronze.  To date, only overall category winners have received gold Stevie Awards.

More than 1,000 entries from organizations worldwide were submitted to this year’s competition, an increase of almost 30% over 2011. Finalists were determined by the average scores of 93 professionals worldwide, acting as preliminary judges.  Entries were considered in 27 categories for customer service professionals, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 38 categories for sales professionals, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year to Sales Department of the Year of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers. 

More than 100 members of seven specialized judging committees will determine Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists during final judging, to take place January 30 - February 10.  

Beginning today, the general public will be able to cast their votes for their favorite providers of good customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service Department.  Voting is open at http://www.stevieawards.com/Service.peopleschoice.  Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service in multiple industries will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on February 27. 

About The Stevie Awards
The Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.   

Sponsors and supporters of the 6^th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include American Support, Coloredge Los Angeles * New York, Competence Call Center, SDL and ValueSelling Associates.

Press Contact:  Amy Nizwantowski, amy@mediashoppr.com
Mediashop PR, (212) 867-8778 x232

 

2012 marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the Stevie Awards movement, and to help celebrate our anniversary we'll be conducting a series of polls throughout the year about the events, people, organizations, and products that shaped our lives over the past decade.

Our first poll asks, What's the top business story of the past 10 years? After careful consideration, we've narrowed the choices to the following five. Vote now for your choice, on our poll on our Facebook page:

a) Apple’s introduction of the iPhone sparks a revolution in mobile computing

b) Wall Street’s troubles trigger the “Great Recession”

c) Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter stoke the growth of social media and social networking

d) Europe’s sovereign debt crisis heralds an era of austerity across the continent

e) The rise of the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) changes the balance of power in international trade

Results of our poll will be announced at the end of January.

Which do you think is the most important business story of the past decade?

The final day for submitting entries to the 2012 Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service is January 18. Showcase your organization's sales excellence and customer service excellence by submitting your entries today. (Request your entry kit here.)

Organizations and individuals worldwide are invited to submit entries. There are dozens of opportunities to win for both private and public organizations, small and large organizations, and non-profit and for profit organizations. The 2012 competition will recognize achievements since July 1, 2010.

How the submission process works:

1. Get your entry kit here.
2. Review all of our sales awards and customer service awards categories. We have more than 90 categories honoring sales excellence and customer service excellence for individuals, teams, and departments, plus new categories this year for products, service, and solution providers.
3. Select the categories you wish to apply for, write your submissions according to the instructions, and submit your entries.

Benefits of submitting a Sales and Customer Service entry:

1. More chances to win
   All Finalists in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories will automatically be included in the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service, a worldwide public vote that will commence on January 26.  Finalists in the Customer Service Department of the Year categories will have an opportunity to win two awards: a Stevie Award, as voted by your peers, and a crystal People's Choice Stevie Award, as voted by your customers.
2. New award distinctions
   The Sales and Customer Service awards banquet will be the first to showcase our three levels of award distinction: gold, silver and bronze Stevie Awards. You can learn more about the new awards here.
3. Know your finalist status right away
   There's only a short wait to find out if you and/or your organization is a finalist. All Finalists will be notified on January 25.

Helpful resources to make your submission process easier:

1. Watch our helpful video tutorial on how to successfully enter submissions here. 
2. Review past winners' entries here.  These are great examples of entries that were judged highly in the 2011 awards.
3. Make your entries count:  learn how to submit winning entries here.

Still have questions? Call us at + 1 703-547-8389 or leave us a comment and we'll get back to you right away.

With the holidays upon us, give a gift of appreciation by submitting entries to The 2012 American Business Awards and Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  (You can get the entry kit for the ABAs here and an entry kit for Sales & Customer Service awards here.)

Why Give the Gift of the Stevie Awards?
The Stevie Awards are the world's premier business awards.  Not only does a nomination represent appreciation and a recognition of success, but all Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners will be recognized on a national and international scale- an invaluable gift!

What is the nomination process?
The nomination process is simple:

1. Get your entry kits for the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and/or The American Business Awards.  The Sales & Customer Service awards are open to all organizations and individuals worldwide, with an entry deadline of January 18.  The ABAs are open to all organizations and individuals in the U.S.A., with an entry deadline of March 28.
   
   
2. Review all of our awards categories. We have scores of sales awards and customer service awards categories as well as hundreds of business award categories.
   
   
3. Select your categories and write your nominations according to the instructions.

Need more resources?

1. Understand the value of your gift: Learn more about the importance of corporate awards.
   
   
2. Make your nomination a winning one: Read How to Submit Winning Entries.
3. Know what to say: Review past Sales and Customer Service awards winners' entries here and past American Business Award winners' entries here.

Still have questions? Call us at 703-547-8389 and we'll help you get started!

Happy holidays to you and yours, and best wishes for continue success in the New Year!

How will you use a Stevie Award nomination to reward those in your organization?